Life terms for murder duo

James Bowman had an interest in witchcraft

Two men have been jailed for life after they stabbed and bludgeoned to death an occultist as he camped on moorland in West Yorkshire.

Leeds Crown Court heard David Sandham, 24, of The Croft, Cleveleys, Lancashire, had killed his own brother six years before.

Both he and Daniel Delker, 24, of Shackleton Road, Freckleton, Lancashire, were found guilty of murdering James Bowman, 44, on a hillside above Cornholme, near Todmorden in September last year.

The jury was told Mr Bowman suffered more than 80 injuries in the vicious attack which a judge described as a "savage slaughter".

The court heard Mr Bowman had been in a relationship with Delker's mother, Melanie Payne, and the couple shared an interest in witchcraft.

You both savagely slaughtered him, beating him about the head with fists, sticks and rocks

Mr Justice Gage

They had been living together in Cornholme until two days before his death when she asked him to leave and he ended up camping on the hillside overlooking the village.

The court was told Delker and his friend Sandham went to find Mr Bowman to warn him off Mrs Payne when the attack happened.

Mr Justice Gage was told Sandham had a previous conviction for the manslaughter of his brother, whom he had stabbed through the heart in April 1996 after years of bullying.

He had been jailed for five years.

Dreadful crime

Sentencing Sandham and Delker, the judge said: "You both savagely slaughtered him (Mr Bowman), beating him about the head with fists, sticks and rocks.

"I'm quite satisfied that one of you had a knife.

"It matters not which one of you had the knife. You share equally the blame for this dreadful crime."

Delker and Sandham both denied murder.

A third defendant, Delker's brother Nicholas Grundy, of Ernest Street, Cornholme, was acquitted of murder earlier in the trial on the orders of the judge.